How Do Job Insecurity and Organizational Justice Relate to Depressive Symptoms and Sleep Difficulties: A Multilevel Study on Immediate and Prolonged Effects in Swedish Workers

Drawing on stress and justice literature, we argue that perceptions of job insecurity induce feelings of low procedural justice, which has immediate and prolonged negative effects on health (depressive symptoms, sleep difficulties). Moreover, we explore whether the strength of the job insecurity–justice relationship differs between individuals as a function of their average level of job insecurity over time. Finally, we explore whether the procedural justice–health relationship differs between individuals as a function of variability in justice perceptions over time. We analyzed Swedish panel data from permanent workers over four consecutive waves (with a two-year time lag between waves) using multilevel analysis, separating within- and between-person variance. Results showed that job insecurity associated negatively with procedural justice at the same time point for all waves. Prolonged effects were less stable. We found immediate (but not prolonged) indirect effects of job insecurity on health outcomes via procedural justice. Average levels in job insecurity over time moderated the within-person job insecurity–justice relationship. However, variability in procedural justice over time did not moderate the within-person justice–health relationship. In conclusion, disentangling within- and between-person variability of job insecurity and justice perceptions contributes to the understanding of health effects.     

Child temperament predicts maternal socialization values

The longitudinal study examined whether and how children’s temperament traits in particular but also their age, sex as well as maternal education and age predict maternal socialization values. The sample was drawn from the IDEFICS study and included 567 mothers from Estonia whose children were 2–9 years old at Time 0 and 4–11 years old at Time 1. The findings showed that children’s temperament at Time 0 predicted maternal socialization values at Time 1, but not vice versa. Mothers who perceived their child to be more imaginative at Time 0 considered self-maximization socialization values more important and social conformity-related values less important at Time 1. Child’s conscientiousness and extraversion were linked positively to social conformity-related socialization values. Older mothers and those with higher level of education put more emphasis on self-maximization socialization values. Children’s age and sex were not related to socialization values.     

Family play,reading, and other stimulation and early childhood development in five low-and-middle-income countries

This paper used longitudinal data from five studies conducted in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Rwanda to examine the links between family stimulation and early childhood development outcomes (N = 4904; M_age = 51.5; 49% girls). Results from random-effects and more conservative child-fixed effects models indicate that across these studies, family stimulation, measured by caregivers’ engagement in nine activities (e.g., reading, playing, singing), predicted increments in children's early numeracy, literacy, social-emotional, motor, and executive function skills (standardized associations ranged from 0.05 to 0.11 SD). Study-specific models showed variability in the estimates, with null associations in two out of the five studies. These findings indicate the need for additional research on culturally specific ways in which caregivers may support early development and highlight the importance of promoting family stimulation to catalyze positive developmental trajectories in global contexts.

Research Highlights

• Research on the links between family stimulation and early childhood development in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited.
• We used longitudinal data from studies conducted in five LMICs to examine the links between family stimulation and early childhood development outcomes.
• Results suggest that family stimulation predicted increments in children's numeracy, literacy, social-emotional, motor, and executive function skills.
• We found variability in the observed estimates, with null associations in two out of the five studies, suggesting the need for additional research in LMICs.